The installation of new and improved security cameras throughout the school took the first step toward the goal of a safer school environment this November.

“It’s really part of a larger program; what we call a capital project that’s going to increase security and safety here at the school,” Principal Tom Mead said. “So it’s an enhancement on what we already had and have which is a number of cameras around the building and the campus.”

The installation not only added to the quantity of the cameras around the school, but it added to the effectiveness of the security system as a whole.

“The difference is technical in the sense that all the cameras that we had before are called analogue cameras; these are now digital cameras which is a bit of a technology leap if you will,” Mead said.

Mead stressed the advanced nature of the digital cameras’ abilities.

“Many of these digital cameras are rather sophisticated in the sense that within one fixture there are three cameras, so they can see different directions at the same time,” Mead said. “That’s a big difference from what we had before with the analogue cameras which were just one direction.”

According to Mead, the most recent installation of cameras is the first of four projected stages to improve upon the building’s security.

“H100, H200, D100, and D200 were targeted with 18 new cameras for a total cost of about $37,000,” Mead said. “We’ve also installed a couple of driveway cameras which cost around close to $8,000.”

There is still discussion as to whether or not there will be more cameras installed in the future.

“Phase two is estimated to be about 39 cameras,” Mead said. “It could happen before the end of the school year and that’s a little bit more than $60,000. Then there are plans for more cameras but I would say that these are just projections and we’re not really sure we’re going to go to this extent.”

“We are going to review to see how our system is functioning now,” Mead said. “We haven’t done a very thorough review on it yet because it’s all very new. Once we do that, we will decide on how many and when we would want to add.”

There are also plans to introduce an improved system of entry to increase the overall security of the school.

“We are going to enhance our card access system for the building,” Mead said. “That will probably allow us to phase out the need for keys to get into the building; these are more controllable and this is part of a computer system so teachers and staff can have these cards.”

Along with the card access system, there are projections to expand upon the number of official entry points into the building.

“We are going to enhance our three office areas, including the rotunda, the upper school and the lower school office,” Mead said. “They will all have video security attached to their door access.”

According to Mead, with these additions to the building’s security system, there are anticipations to achieve a greater level of safety and security in the school’s environment.